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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 2018)
BOOSTER CLUB Students get a ‘boost’ from parents, community members By Rebecca Herren For Seaside Signal The Seaside High School Booster Club is a communi- ty-based organization gener- ously run by parents and com- munity members who support student programs, arts and athletics — with an empha- sis on academics. It engages community involvement and inspires to increase parent/ student participation as well as support for athletes and coaches to create a positive and spirited atmosphere for students. The Boosters promote fundraising and encourage students to actively fundraise for activities, but the Boosters themselves do not recruit, said co-presidents Stacie Gilligan and Toni Bennett. “We just sent out our REBECCA HERREN Toni Bennett and Stacie Gilligan are co-presidents of the Seaside High School Boosters Club. Bennett has been a mem- ber since 2016 and her family owns Bruce’s Candy Kitchen. Gilligan has been a member since 2005 and is the head secre- tary at Broadway Middle School. sponsorship letters and that is where the majority of our funds come from,” Gilligan said. “Some of them are pri- vate, but most of them are businesses. As I said, we don’t really go out and recruit, but anyone can give us money. If someone is not already on our list as a donor, they can cer- tainly come to us.” There are three levels of sponsorships: $1,000, $500 and $250. Donors of all lev- els receive gifts and entrance tickets to games. In addition to monetary givers, the Boost- ers have a few in-kind donors they can call on when needed. The Boosters also raise funds through memberships and concession sales, as well as sporting events they orga- nize in Seaside. Anyone can become a sponsor or donate to Boosters, and the board decides what, where and who will benefit. In the end, all the funds go back to the kids. There is one stipulation Gilligan pointed out. If some- one wants to donate, but re- quests their donation be dis- tributed in a certain way, they should donate directly to the school. “We don’t allocate funds per donor requests.” Citing an annual budget of $75,408 for the upcoming school year, the board allo- cates set amounts — for ex- ample: to the band, the athlet- ic department and for awards — off the top, Gilligan said. They provide mini-grants for programs, classes and teachers twice a year in amounts up to $500, and au- tomatically give $200 to the band or any of the athletic teams when they go to state. The rest of the budget is al- located on approval by the board, and funds are set aside for future projects. Past projects include the reader board sign at the high school, which Gilligan point- ed out was “years in the mak- ing due to cost,” and the ro- botics program at Broadway Middle School. Another proj- :ȽVɍSɈRɊW FɀDɊDȻWȽUȄFɇPɅLɌPȽQɌ VȹFɊLΠFȽHΞRɊWȆ :ȽVɍSɈRɊW 7ɀH6ȽDȿXɄOɋ *ɇRȼOɍFɃWɀLɋVȽDɋRɆ Rock | Sand | Gravel - For all you aggregate needs! Building a Strong America ® | 979-361-2900 | www.KnifeRiver.com 10 • Seagull Pride • Fall 2018 ect includes the large signs hung in the high school gym acknowledging the $1,000 donors. Other donors are list- ed on the Booster calendars. Gilligan believes the school district is healthy and it has not had to eliminate any programs or activities in a few years. Though the schools do not rely on outside organi- zations like the Boosters to raise money to save its pro- grams, the Boosters’ support has helped to keep cutbacks at bay. “If we feel it’s a worthy cause, we’ll help out,” Gilli- gan said referencing Future Business Leaders of America, a recent program turned class at the high school. “We’re here if they need us, but they are not dependent on us.” See Boosters, Page 11B